Antigone of Sophocles is a play that represents the Theban saga. Antigone is daughter to Oedipus and Jocasta. Her siblings are Polyneices, Eteocles and Ismene. Oedipus was king of Thebes that was after killing the father and marrying his mother, Jocasta, who killed herself because the husband put out his own eyes (Taylor et al., 30). Eventually Oedipus ceased to be king and his two sons, Polyneicesand Eteocles, agreed to alternate as king, but Eteocles would refuse to give up the throne forcing Polyneices to fight back. The two brothers finally killed one another and Creon, brother to Jocasta, took the throne. Creon gave Eteocles a proper burial because he protected the city whilePolyneices' body was left on the battlefield unburied, for he attacked the city. According to Taylor et al. (33), Antigone decides to disobey law and burry the brother in a ceremonial burial, and she was apprehended. Creon declares that she be buried in a sealed cave but the son, Haemon, is not into this idea and convinces the father to free Antigone though late, because by the time the cave is reopened she had hung herself already. Haemon tries to kill the father but instead kills himself. Eurydice, wife to Creon, kills herself too upon getting wind of the news. Antigone is, therefore, revered and well appreciated to stand on the views that conscience and individual beliefs should be able to override laws.
Antigone is determined to bury her brother, as the laws of heaven suggest. Antigone is all about divine law that is derived from nature and seems to care about what is wrong or right, therefore, creating harmony in the world (Taylor et al., 40). Devine law is often due to conscience or reason, giving deeper meaning and fulfillment to actions done. On the contrary Creon represented the will and determination of the government and had no concern of what was right or wrong (Jean et al., 13). Therefore, Antigone claims to do what is right when she defies the state to go ahead and burry her brother.
According to Jean et al. (25), Antigone questions why one brother is buried honorably and another so miserably. She goes on to tell her sister, Ismene that this is culturally and morally wrong. Antigone says that it is not right for Creon to deny Polyneices the right to a fair burial and that the family also has the right to gracefully bury their dead hence paying respect to the dead. Antigone broke the rules for the reason that the gods did not announce those laws and no mortal can override the gods. It has always been culturally and morally correct to bury the dead since time immemorial (Johnston et al. 70). Creon being King claims that Antigone was loyal to an unscripted law and punished her by burying her in a sealed cave. Antigone was justified to obey and follow her instincts, therefore, no one was in the wrong and needed no punishment. Creon was defiant and rude and could not entertain defeat as shown by the penalties he took. To justify the actions of Antigone, Haemonand the father quarreled finally urging him to release Antigone. Unfortunately worse had come to worst with the suicide of Antigone and hell broke loose in Creon’s family as his son and wife committed suicide too (John et al. 68). In the latter actions, it provided proof that God was punishing Creon for his cruelty and misjudgment as king of Theban. His actions brought ruin in his life.
Sophocles showed heroism in his play through Antigone who was in every sense of the word the first Conscientious activist. This play often criticized laws put in place by the government to disclose the rotten nature of administration in that state. According to John et al. (80), Antigone died for the rights of humans and hence perceived as a martyr. Eventually Haemon is able to show his father that his views are wrong and goes to burry Polyneices to back Antigone’s ideology. Creon is hence in support of the good of the city and sees no value in human life; this shows that law is cruel to man and human belief will always superior. Antigone is harsh to her sister as a tool to save Ismene, proving evidence that she was not implicated, and poses as a heroine. Antigone would not have brought out her character if she did not say or declare whatshe had done; in fact she stood by her word and opinions with her death. Consequently, the death of Antigone saw Creon change and end oppression to families. Antigone also brings out a second rationale; the issue of men and women being equal and man has no superior or advanced right or authority over woman (Paul et al. 40). As Antigone stood by her words so can any woman and she even tried to show and prove to Ismene this.
In conclusion, this is a drama worth thinking about for years to come. Creon from the start was entirely wrong while on the other hand Antigone was entirely right in her actions. The drama is a means of bringing out an interesting martyr story and Creon was simply a carrier (Paul et al. 50). This had Antigone win and come triumph in a bid to demonstrate that conscience is above the law. As long as one takes an action to bemorally correct then no law can change his or her view of thinking and cannot burr him or her to go against her stand. Sophocles intelligently illustrated human belief overriding law. Law is, therefore,concerned about the wellbeing of the state and in most cases does not help human being, while human belief provides support to man (Paul et al. 68).
Works Cited
Taylor, Don andVarakis, Angie. “Sophocles” London: Methuen Drama, 2006. Pp. 23-54. (http://www.questia.com/searchglobal?q=keyword!antigone%20taylor!allwords#00000Academic)
Jean, Anouilh, Ted, Freeman and Barbara, Bray. “Antigone”. London: Methuen Drama, 2000. Pp. 12-65. (http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=P8upSTfC06wC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Jean,+Anouilh,+Ted,+Freeman+and+Barbara,+Bray.+%E2%80%9CAntigone%E2%80%9D.
London:+Methuen+Drama,&hl=en&sa=X&ei=byCvULG5JKSA0AWWwIC4DQ&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false)
Johnston, Ian. “Sophocles: Antigone”. Virginia: Richer Resoiurces Publications, 2005. Pp. 64-100. (http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/sophocles/antigone.htm)
John, Harrison and David, Franklin. “Antigone Sophocles” Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Pp. 67-100. (http://vpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1089171038_antigone)
Paul, Woodruff. “Antigone: Sophocles” Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., 2001. Pp. 34-68. (http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=xth1NGI4tdQC&pg=PR4&dq=Paul,+Woodruff.+%E2%80%9CAntigone:+Sophocles%E2%80%9D+Indianapolis:+Hackett+Publishing+Co.,+2001&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lRKvUOXQAbGW0QXAmoCQBw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Paul%2C%20Woodruff.%20%E2%80%9CAntigone%3A%20Sophocles%E2%80%9D%20Indianapolis%3A%20Hackett%20Publishing%20Co.%2C%202001&f=false)
